GREENVILLE, S.C. — Coming off a 24-21 road victory over then FCS 21st-ranked East Tennessee State, Furman will look to complete the 2024 season on a high note this Saturday when it travels to Macon, Ga., to take on FCS No. 8/9 Mercer in a 3:00 p.m. Southern Conference clash at Five Star Stadium.
The ESPN+ streamed contest will also be aired over flagship The Fan Upstate and its four powerhouse stations: 97.7 FM/1330 AM in Greenville, and 97.1 FM/950 AM in Spartanburg. Broadcasts can be secured via Audacy.com, as well as through FurmanPaladins.com.
Fans can also follow the action through Mercer-driven StatBroadcast live stats, accessible via FurmanPaladins.com, and receive timely updates and in-game video highlight clips through both the @FurmanPaladins "X" and Furman Paladin Football Facebook platforms.
The 2024 season has been a struggle for Furman (3-7, 2-4 SoCon) and the number of young players cast into starting roles. All told 24 Paladins have made career starting debuts this season, and 30 of the squad's current 44-member offense and defense two-deep are either freshmen or sophomores. A year ago, when Furman went 10-3 and won the SoCon title, 35 of the Paladins' top 44 players possessed junior, senior, or graduate level experience.
After a pair of close setbacks to VMI and Wofford, Furman broke thru against ETSU by cutting down of mistakes and intercepting three Buccaneer passes, which the Paladins converted into 10 points. Redshirt freshman safety
Billy Lewis, making his fourth start, led the way, registering nine tackles, an interception, a forced fumble, and a pass deflection on the way to landing Stats Perform Freshman Player of the Week honors.
Other standout Paladin defenders against ETSU included redshirt freshman linebacker
Ryan Earl (8 tackles, 2 TFL), and the unit's leader, redshirt senior
Evan DiMaggio (13 tackles, 2.5 TFL), the SoCon's leading tackler this season with 112 stops.
Furman's three pickoffs against ETSU upped its season tally to 12 — a far cry from the 27 takeaways registered in 2023 and the 29 posted two years ago.
The Paladins' have had their struggles offensively this fall but managed to up their efficiency in the win over ETSU. True freshman quarterback
Trey Hedden delivered an effective performance (23x28, 210 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT), and his favorite target was sophomore
Colton Hinton (6 rec., 62 yds. TD), who has fashioned a solid 2024 campaign (50 rec., 5 TDs).
Furman's ground game accounted for only 72 yards against the Buccaneers but proved effective enough in the fourth quarter on a 13-play, 46-yard possession that ran out the game clock.
Mercer (9-2, 6-1 SoCon), which two weeks ago clinched a share of its first SoCon football championship and the league's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs, will look for its first win over Furman since 2021. Two years ago in their last trip to Macon, the Paladins' defense suffocated the Bears in a 23-13 win, and last year Furman dispatched Mercer with a 38-13 triumph in Greenville.
Much like Furman a year ago, the Bears have played solid defense and been proficient in takeaways, tallying 28 (21 INTs) through 11 games to rank second in the FCS in the category.
